SCARBOROUGH — Jean-Marie Caterina of Scarborough and Andrew “Drew” Gattine of Westbrook face off on June 14 for the Democratic slot in the Maine House District 126 race.  

House District 126 encompasses north Saco, north and west Scarborough, and part of Westbrook.  

Caterina, 66, is a graduate of the University of Maine and holds a master’s degree from Boston College. She is married and has an adult daughter. Caterina is a longtime Scarborough resident and has served on the Scarborough Town Council since 2013; she was reelected in 2020 to a third term.

Caterina is the owner and president of the Caterina MacLean real estate group.

“I bring varied experiences to the position,” said Caterina. “From teaching to social work to assistant commissioner of Labor for Legislative Affairs to a small business owner to a real estate broker, I have done and seen much in my life. I am a Maine native and have lived in Greater Portland my entire life. As an elected official, I know what it takes to work with others who don’t agree with one another to craft policies that work for the community. Yet, I am a fierce advocate for my values. As the saying goes, ‘Together we achieve more.'”   

During her time on the council and the Ordinance Committee, she has dealt with various topics that matter to local families, she said. Caterina has said that she would like to see more affordable housing in her town and is currently advocating for workforce housing opportunities for Scarborough.

She said as she’s been knocking on the doors of registered Democrats, people say they are most concerned about reelecting Governor Janet Mills, the high of everything, including housing, and retaining abortion rights.

“When on the doors (of Democrats), most folks seem to be most concerned about the change in the leadership of the state,” said Caterina. “They are satisfied with the current Governor and administration. They are worried about going ‘backwards.’ People are also concerned about the cost of living, the high cost of housing in this area and the need for smart growth policies as growth impacts this mostly rural district. The loss of full bodily autonomy for women with the potential rollback of Roe v. Wade has been front of mind for many.”

Caterina said she intends to address these issues if elected.

“First, we need to return Governor Mills to office and maintain majorities in both houses,” Caterina said. “Next, we need to continue the stabilization of local property taxes through the continuation of the full funding of municipal revenue sharing and school funding. Next, the tax code needs to be retooled. In essence, we have a flat tax in Maine which benefits high earners. More steps need to be added to the higher end of the code. The state can and should be addressing the scarcity of ‘workforce housing.’ These are folks who make too much to qualify for affordable housing, but cannot afford market-rate housing, either.”

Drew Gattine, 59 years old, served in the House of Representatives for eight years until he was termed out in 2020. He is married and lives in Westbrook with his wife, Elizabeth; he has two twin daughters, Jordan and Sabrina. 

Gattine’s prior political experience includes serving three terms with the Westbrook City Council and chairing the Westbrook Charter Commission. He served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives, where he was House chair of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. He said while serving as chair, he was one of those responsible for fully funding health care for over 70,000 Mainers.

Gattine talked about what he could offer if elected as the Democratic nominee.

“I’m in this race because Maine people need experienced champions in Augusta who know how to get results,” Gattine said. “I’ve had eight years of experience and have learned how to deliver for my constituents.”

Gattine said when talking to residents during the campaigning process, “people are worried about the cost of housing and health care, whether their kids are going to get a quality education, whether the Supreme Court is going to take away control over their health care decisions, and what kind of a planet we are going to leave to our children and grandchildren.” 

Gattine said he would work to address these issues. He previously stated that he would continue to focus on making sure seniors and schools are taken care of in the budget and work to keep property taxes low. One of the major concerns he hears about when campaigning is the need for affordable housing. To that end, he said he supports tax incentives for developers of affordable housing.  

In addition, Gattine said, “we need to support higher earnings for workers, support older Mainers and people with disabilities so that they can live in their communities and keep education affordable. We’ve made a lot of progress in the past few years on many of these issues, but we need to keep moving forward. I’ve been a big part of that progress and delivered on all of these issues and hope the people of District 126 will send me back to Augusta to continue working for them.” 

Voting for the primary will be held on June 14.

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